Social Democrat leader: Party damaged by low voter turnout

Prime Minister and Social Democrat leader Bohuslav Sobotka said the low
turnout had reflected on the party’s performance in the elections. The
Social Democrats defended 7 seats in the elections but only won four. Mr.
Sobotka said his party has had a long term problem in convincing its
supporters to vote in European elections and it was clear that the
party’s sympathises had seen no reason to go to the polls. At the same
time, the prime minister said he was pleased that all three ruling parties
had won seats in the European Parliament and that according to his
calculations 15 of the country’s 21 MEPs would be pro-European.